Recent research investigating the effects of sexism in elementary school textbooks on readers is reviewed to determine children's responses in terms of reading preferences, sex-role attitudes and behaviors, and comprehension abilities. The degree of sexism in textbooks was determined by the proportion of female main characters, the presentation of men and women in diverse familial, personality, and work roles, and the use of neutral or sex-specific terminology or masculine generic terminology. Research results indicated the following: students' interest in reading material does not seem to be decreased and may be enhanced by using more interesting stories about females; children exposed to nonsexist material have more flexible attitudes about role behavior that may be appropriate for both sexes, and actually may engage in those behaviors more frequently; and students' comprehension of reading material is increased with the use of sex-neutral or sex-specific terminology. Further research is suggested to determine the impact of male nontraditional role models on boys' and girls' reading interests and their sex-role attitudes, and to determine which factors contribute to increased comprehension of reading material with nontraditional main characters. (DF)